In 1972 George Carlin laid out the “seven words you can neve say on television.” There are also words you can’t say at an airport or on an airplane. One of them is “bomb.” Another is saying “hi” to your friend “Jack” as passengers did at the security checkpoint in the 1980 comedy Airplane!
One Breeze Airways passenger decided to find out and used the first banned word of aviation on Tuesday evening.
Breeze Airways flight 717 from Orlando to Providence, Rhode Island diverted to Jacksonville, Florida and two passengers were arrested after a couple got into an argument, and a man said bomb. Forty five minutes after takeoff, pilots decided to put the Airbus A220 down.
The FBI responded. The man pulled off the aircraft can be seen on video apologizing to passengers as he’s placed into handcuffs. A couple of hours later the flight was cancelled and passengers were told they would fly the next day and reimbursed for a hotel room.
Isn’t it obvious, though, that someone who makes an off-handed remark about a bomb, or jokes about a bomb, doesn’t have a bomb? A deleted scene from Friends makes this very important point.
Monica and Chandler headed off on their honeymoon in the episode where Rachel told Ross she’s pregnant. But since it was scheduled to air shortly after 9/11, they didn’t show the part at airport security where Chandler makes a joke about a bomb and winds up being detained.
I was just making a joke. I know the sign says no jokes about bombs, but shouldn’t the sign really say “no bombs.” I mean isn’t that the guy we really have to worry about here, the guy with the bombs? Not the guy who jokes about his bombs, not that I have bombs, because if I did I probably wouldn’t joke about about them. I’d probably want to keep that rather quiet.
Of course it’s not just ‘bomb’ or ‘hi, jack’ that may get you in trouble. There are a lot more words you cannot say in an airport or on a plane without risk.
Even naming your wifi hotspot ‘Samsung Galaxy Note 7″ or ‘bomb on board’ can get you in trouble. Even someone saying ‘bomba’ on a United flight got passengers deplaned in 2018. Snapchatting a friend that you’re a ‘terrorist with womens’ hearts can be enough to cause trouble, if your seat opponent can see your screen.
When my wife was nursing she used to travel with a breast pump. Some agents in Spanish speaking countries would ask what it was. The correct Spanish word is “bomba”. And I’m thinking “well what word would you like me to use? You asked what it was. That’s the name in Spanish. It’s not my fault if you’re scared of a word”. But of course I don’t want to be detained so here we are calling it pompa or some idiotic word variation to cater to ignorant people who aren’t capable of understanding a word’s context and correct use of language.
Shirley you can’t be serious?
Hi, Jack!
Don’t call me Shirley.
Never fly an off-brand airline.
And who flies between Orlando and… Providence?….